Bay Area Public County Law Libraries
Every county in California has a law library that is open to the public and free to use. Borrowing privileges vary, but they are often limited to attorneys. Most county law libraries have computers and electronic legal research databases that members of the public can use at no cost. The links to each county listed below leads to a summary of the library's location, borrowing privileges, and legal research databases. For hours of operation and additional information not listed below, please click on the link to each library’s website.
San Francisco | San Mateo |
Alameda | Santa Clara |
Contra Costa | Santa Cruz |
Marin | Solano |
Napa | Sonoma |
For California Public Law Libraries outside the Bay Area, visit http://www.publiclawlibrary.org/law-libraries/.
San Francisco Law Library 1145 Market Street, 4th Floor San Francisco, CA 94103 Phone: (415) 554-1772 |
Website: http://www.sflawlibrary.org/ Catalog: http://sflawlib.ci.sf.ca.us/ |
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Legal Databases and software available: Lexis Advance, Westlaw, Shepard’s Citations, HeinOnline, CEB OnLaw, Fastcase, Martin Dean’s Essential Forms, Dissomaster, Nolo Legal Information Reference Center. All databases are free and available to the public for in-library use. Library computers may be used for two hours per day.
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Bernard E. Witkin Law Library 125 Twelfth St. Oakland, CA 94607 Information: (510) 208-4800 Reference: (510) 208-4832 Circulation: (510) 272-6491 |
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Website: http://lawlibrary.acgov.org/
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Contra Costa County Public Law Library |
Contra Costa Richmond Branch Superior Court Building 100 37th St. Room 237 Richmond, CA 94805 Phone: (510) 374-3019 |
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Website: http://www.cccpllib.org/
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Marin County Law Library 20 North San Pedro Rd. # 2015 San Rafael, CA 94903 Phone: (415) 499-6355 Reference: (415) 499-6356 |
Website: http://www.marincountylawlibrary.org/ |
Legal Databases and software available: Westlaw
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Napa County Law Library 825 Brown St. Napa, CA 94559 Phone: (707) 299-1201 |
Website: http://www.napalawlibrary.com/ Catalog: http://www.napalawlibrary.com/Collection.html |
Legal Databases and software available: Sustain, Westlaw, Dissomaster, Support Tax. All databases are free and available to the public for in-library use. |
San Mateo County Law Library 710 Hamilton St. Redwood City, CA 94063 Phone: (650) 363-4913 |
Website: http://www.smclawlibrary.org/ Catalog: http://1402.sydneyplus.com/SanMateoCountyLaw/Portal/opac.aspx?lang=en-US |
Legal Databases and software available: Westlaw, CEB OnLaw, HeinOnline, Lexis Advance, Martin Dean’s Essential Forms, Shepard’s Citations, Dissomaster, California VerdictSearch, CCH Tax Materials. All databases are free and available to the public for in-library use. Library computers may be used for 90 minutes per day.
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Santa Clara County Law Library 360 North First St. San Jose, CA 95113 Information: (408) 299-3567 Reference: (408) 299-3568 |
Website: http://sccll.org/ Catalog: http://www.sccll.org/research/collection.html |
Legal Databases and software available: Lexis Advance, Shepard’s Citations, Westlaw, CEB OnLaw, HeinOnline, Dissomaster, Matthew Bender CD-ROM station, Nolo Legal Information Reference Center, EBSCO Legal Source. All databases are free and available to the public for in-library use.
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Santa Cruz County Law Library Government Center Room 070 701 Ocean St. Santa Cruz, CA 95060 Phone: (831) 420-2205 |
Website: http://www.lawlibrary.org/ Catalog: www.santacruzpl.org |
Legal Databases and software available: Lexis Advance, Westlaw, CEB OnLaw, PACER (fees apply to Pacer).
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Solano County Law Library Hall of Justice 600 Union Ave. Fairfield, CA 94533 Phone: (707) 421-6520 |
Website: http://solanolibrary.com/law/ Catalog: http://www.solanolibrary.com/catalog/ |
Legal Databases and software available: Lexis Advance, Westlaw, HeinOnline, VerdictSearch Weekly, Dissomaster. All databases are free and available to the public for in-library use. |
Sonoma County Public Law Library 600 Administration Dr. Room 213-J Santa Rosa, CA 95403 Phone: (707) 565-2668 |
Website: http://www.sonomacountylawlibrary.org/ |
Legal Databases and software available: Westlaw, Shepard’s Citations, and fee-based Lexis Advance.
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